Ben and Jerry’s CEO Matthew McCarthy spoke to Hofstra students virtually on Wednesday, Nov. 17, about the importance of companies fighting for social justice. // Photo courtesy of Rob Olivera.

Decisions made by Ben and Jerry’s, an ice cream company owned by Unilever, in the name of social justice have become controversial. 

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, Hofstra University hosted a virtual event run by the Center for International Financial Services and Markets and the Frank G. Zarb School of Business. At the event, Ben and Jerry’s CEO Matthew McCarthy talked to students about the importance of running a business with personal purpose. 

“For most of my career, purpose related [issues were] non-issues. What mattered was growing, making money and winning in the marketplace,” McCarthy said. “Now we have fully entered a time when businesses that don’t do something in addition to whatever their product or service is designed to do, meaning if they don’t do something that addresses a real social or climate issue, they’re probably dead and they just don’t know it.” 

Many students believe that social justice has a vital role in running a business and appreciate Ben and Jerry’s for standing by their mission since the creation of the company.  

“Recent trends and external pressure have forced companies to restructure their practices to implement social and environmental accountability,” said Jyoti Agrawal, a first year graduate student earning a master’s in cybersecurity. “However, Ben & Jerry’s role as corporate activists began over 30 years ago, which is extremely commendable, as this was uncommon in corporate culture back in the late 1980s.” 

Matthew Adarichev, a sophomore public policy major, has a differing view from McCarthy when it comes to the social justice stance.  

“I am extremely skeptical about the shareholder model of running a business, which states that companies ought to be socially responsible and support causes, because most of the time, this is not done out of the kindness of the company’s heart,” Adarichev said. “This is done, and McCarthy even admitted it during the talk, as a marketing strategy to increase customer loyalty, conduct good PR and ‘increase profits’, as he said.” 

McCarthy discussed how a company’s values can attract customers. 

“The reality is we know that people who understand our values are much more bonded to our business and our brand,” McCarthy said. 

Ben and Jerry’s made the decision to stop selling their ice cream in parts of Israel, as they believe such action aligns with their core values, according to the July 19 statement made by the company.  

Over 30 states have anti-boycott laws that penalize businesses for boycotting Israel. One of these is New York, which has proceeded in divesting over $100 million from Unilever in pension funds as a result of the decision, according to the New York Post.  

Many proponents of Israeli policy argue that the boycott, divest, sanctions (BDS) movement is a modern instance of antisemitism. Ben and Jerry’s denies the idea that their decision to boycott Israel is an antisemitic act. 

According to Sean Greenwood, the public relations director at Ben and Jerry’s, “our co-founders Ben and Jerry said it best in an opinion essay for the New York Times: ‘The company’s stated decision to more fully align its operations with its values is not a rejection of Israel. It is a rejection of Israeli policy, which perpetuates an illegal occupation that is a barrier to peace and violates the basic human rights of the Palestinian people who live under the occupation. As Jewish supporters of the State of Israel, we fundamentally reject the notion that it is antisemitic to question the policies of the State of Israel.’” 

“There’s a difference between critiquing and being an antisemite. Ben and Jerry’s is definitely going a step beyond critiquing Israel,” said Mindy Perlmutter, the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Long Island. “They are putting Israel in an antisemitic light, a hateful light and it’s not factual.”  

During the virtual event, all questions were asked through the chat function. Someone posed a question regarding Ben and Jerry’s decision to stop selling in Israel; however, the question was left unanswered, as the meeting ended about 15 minutes before the advertised time.